


The anxiety scale

by neoncentipede



Series: Human AU [2]
Category: Invader Zim
Genre: AU, Alternate Universe, Childhood Trauma?, Crying, Gen, Human AU, IF YOU THINK THIS IS SHIPPY ILL CHOKE YOU, Oneshot, Panic attack?, ZIM'S JUST BEING PARENTAL YOU FREAKS, child abuse?, cut me some slack its 2 (nearly 3) am as i write these tags, idk he is crying over something traumatic, idk if i can class it as a panic attack but, its like one incident but it's discussed a lot, kind of?, listen i dont know what to tag this, rating Teen and up because of this
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-12-08
Updated: 2019-12-08
Packaged: 2021-04-17 09:47:52
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 728
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21710671
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/neoncentipede/pseuds/neoncentipede
Summary: In order to try and stop Gir going into school and having panic attacks, Zim came up with a system called 'The anxiety scale'. The concept is simple: As Zim wakes Gir up, he asks how he's feeling on a scale of 1-10. If it's less than 5, he stays off school, less than 3 and Zim stays off with him too, to make sure he's okay.But what happens when Gir answers '0'?
Series: Human AU [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1564189
Comments: 5
Kudos: 40





	The anxiety scale

Zim checked the time on his phone.

_'6:30'_

He'd woken up thirty minutes ago, and was now walking down the hall to Gir's room to go and wake him up. Even in the darkness of the early morning, it wasn't hard to tell which door was Gir's - It was the one covered with stickers and glow-in-the-dark stars.

Zim cleared his throat and swung the door open, putting on a big, dorky smile.

"Time to get up, Gir! How do you f-"

_Oh. Something wasn't quite right here._

Instead of being under the covers like he usually was, Gir was sitting on the side of his bed, facing the wall. In the darkness, Zim could see that he was hunched over, and quite possibly fidgeting with his hands like he did when he was nervous.

"Zero." Gir said. He sounded tearful.

"What?"

"Zero." Gir repeated, turning to face Zim. As suspected, Zim could see tears running down Gir's face. Zim immediately slid into the room, rushing to Gir's side.

"What happened? Are you okay?"

Gir shook his head and stared at his hands, which he was indeed fidgeting with.

"I.. something.. bad." He whimpered, unable to look up at Zim. 

Zim plopped himself down on the bed next to Gir, and pulled Gir into his lap. He knew what was about to happen, and decided it was best to at least _try_ to comfort him.

"Do you mind telling me what it is?"

Gir buried his face into Zim's chest and began to cry loudly. Zim sighed and wrapped his arms around Gir, hugging him tightly.

"It's okay.. I'm here now.." He cooed parentally. He'd just assumed Gir had a nightmare, so nothing could prepare him for what came out of Gir's mouth next. 

_"I just remembered my real father." _ He said, between sniffles and sobs.

Zim tensed up when Gir said that. He didn't know exactly what had happened to lead up to Gir being adopted, but he did know his real father wasn't a great person. 

"I-I remembered hiding under the table.. and I was watching him argue with mom.. and he.. and I.."

Gir cried some more into Zim's sweater, his tears soaking right through it. Zim's heart sank - he had a guess as to what was going to happen next.

"And he hit her.. so I ran out to stop him-" Gir choked out, trying to make it understandable.

"And I- I told him to stop- and he- And he- he hit me too! Right- Right on my face! And everytime I think about it I can still feel where he hit me! It still hurts!! Why does it still hurt, Zim?! Why does it still have to hurt?!"

Zim felt sick to his stomach. He sat there silently for a few minutes, just allowing Gir to cry, before he finally spoke up again.

"I'm sorry."

He felt a little silly saying that. He knew it wasn't his fault Gir had a shitty biological father, but it was the best he could do.

"Gir… I promise you right here and right now that if anyone, and I mean ANYONE, does that to you ever again, I'll make the rest of their pathetic existence a fucking nightmare. You matter so much to me. Why do you think I even came up with that anxiety scale thing in the first place? It's because I care about you, Gir and.. and when you get hurt, it hurts me too. I don't know why it still hurts, you need to ask Tenn about this kind of thing, but I do know that overtime, it will hurt less and less, and I mean that."

Gir's crying hadn't completely stopped, however, it had now become silent crying, with an occasional sniffle.

_"Promise?" _He asked, sounding somewhat desperate.

"I promise."

Gir shakily pulled himself out of Zim's lap, a few tears slipping out, but it was noticeably starting to stop.

"Now that that's out of the way.. Uh.. Do you want breakfast? I don't think we have waffles, but I can make pancakes. Or do you just want to rest? We're not going into school today if you feel like this."

And for the first time that day, Zim saw Gir crack a smile. It was through teary eyes, and it was very weak, but it was a smile.

"Breakfast, please..."


End file.
